In 2003, Sally Dye pointed out that “felt needs” and “relevance” were common buzzwords, and yet few were explaining how relevance was relevant to actually meeting the needs one found in determining the felt needs. This is a brief overview of the points in the paper she wrote.

Sally says that the starting place for meeting felt needs is to observe the conscience of the group with which you are working. They will already know what actions are considered appropriate and which are considered inappropriate. The key is to start with knowing which actions strike the conscience, to bring to mind their failures to live up to the standard that is already set, and to make obvious their need for God and his help.

Sally gives 9 “action steps” for a cross-cultural witness to take in this process of conveying the message of conviction and salvation:

1. Become the weak to win the weak. God has sent you to build the idea that people do not have to continue using their former resources to obtain a clean conscience. He wants them to rely on Him for everything, and the failure to live up to a standard is a natural way to build reliance on His power. The witness must understand the plight and the bondage the weak person is under in order to help them on their way out.

2. Respect the people rather than judging them. Respect is not a feeling; it is an attitude and an action. The people to whom you are sent have already earned respect by the simple fact that they are made in the image of God, and He wants a relationship with them. Learn the ways in which the culture shows respect, and carefully follow their model. This is also a key way to understand their conscience; let the people tell you what is right and what is wrong; how to behave in certain situations.

3. Discover the key needs and how people perceive them. A good springboard for discovering the needs of the group is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

4. Discover to whom or where they go to meet their needs. This could be ancestors, idols, or approaching the spirits through a shaman.

5. Look in the Scriptures for promises that God can meet each of the focal needs. Study the promises well so that you are ready when you have the opportunity to offer help.

6. Answer key questions that prevent clear understanding of the Gospel. Sally lists 5 questions that often come up: How do I know it’s true? Why Should I Change? How would I Live? What is the Gospel Message? How do I Turn to Christ?

7. Show the weak in faith that the Creator of the universe can meet their needs better than the old resources. God works through truth encounters (the answer to a culture question is found in the Scriptures), good news encounters (showing what God has done through Jesus Christ to meet their needs), and power encounters (a confrontation between God and the old need-meeting resource).

8. Challenge people to choose between God and the old resources. When a person has trusted Christ to save him and yet relies on the old resources to meet his needs, that is known as syncretism. Teach the church to challenge believers to rely on God to meet all needs.

9. Teach weak Christians the truth about their old resources when their faith is stronger. Focus on developing faith in God rather than trying to disrespecfully tear down the old worldview. The old worldview will always be there, though to a smaller and smaller degree as faith grows.